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QUICKIE -- Black Adam (2022)

Black Adam is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, Seven Bucks Productions, and FlynnPictureCo., it is a spin-off from Shazam! (2019) and the eleventh film in the DC Extended Universe. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani, the film stars Dwayne Johnson (who also served as a producer) as the titular character alongside Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Mohammed Amer, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan.

Cast

Dwayne Johnson as Teth-Adam / Black Adam
The character previously appeared in Shazam! (2019) in a brief cameo, during a sequence where the wizard teaches Billy Batson about the previous recipients of his powers. Johnson also voiced the character in a post-credits cameo, ahead of the character's live-action debut, in the unrelated animated film DC League of Super-Pets (2022).
Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall / Hawkman
Noah Centineo as Albert "Al" Rothstein / Atom Smasher
Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz
Marwan Kenzari as Ishmael Gregor / Sabbac
- Kenzari also portrays Ahk-Ton, the ancient tyrannical king of Kahndaq, who was slaughtered by Adam.
Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkel / Cyclone
Mohammed Amer as Karim
Bodhi Sabongui as Amon Tomaz
Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate

Additionally, James Cusati-Moyer portrays Samir, a colleague of Adrianna and Karim. Jalon Christian appears as Hurut, Adam's son who becomes the original Champion of Kahndaq deemed pure of heart to wield the powers of Shazam, with his superhero form portrayed by Uli Latukefu. Odelya Halevi portrays Shiruta, Adam's wife who was murdered by Ahk-Ton's men during the flashback scenes set in ancient Kahndaq.

Several actors also reprise their roles from previous DCEU media, including Djimon Hounsou as the wizard Shazam, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, and Henry Cavill as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman, the latter in an uncredited cameo appearance during the mid-credit scene. Henry Winkler cameos as Rothstein's uncle Al Pratt, who was the former superhero named Atom.

Plot

SPOILER WARNING

In 2600 BC, the tyrannical king of Kahndaq, Ahk-Ton, creates the Crown of Sabbac, which gives the wearer great power. After attempting to stage a revolt, a young slave boy is given the powers of Shazam by the Council of Wizards, transforming him into Kahndaq's heroic champion, who kills Ahk-Ton and ends his reign.

In the present day, Kahndaq is oppressed by the Intergang. Archaeologist and resistance fighter Adrianna Tomaz tries to locate the Crown of Sabbac with the help of her brother Karim and their colleagues Samir and Ishmael. As Adrianna obtains the crown, Intergang ambushes them, and Samir is killed. Adrianna reads an incantation that awakens Teth-Adam, whom she believes to be Kahndaq's champion, from a slumber. Adam slaughters most of the Intergang troops. US government official Amanda Waller deems Adam a threat and contacts the Justice Society—Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher—to take him into custody. The Justice Society arrives in time to stop Adam from causing further destruction to Kahndaq and Intergang's troops, before explaining to Adrianna that Adam was not a savior who was entombed, but a madman who was imprisoned.

Ishmael reveals himself as the leader of Intergang in Kahndaq and chases Adrianna's teenage son Amon, who has stolen the crown. Adam, Adrianna, and the Justice Society intend to use the crown to trade for Amon. They reach Ishmael, who reveals that he is the last descendant of King Ahk-Ton and, wanting his rightful place on the throne, demands the crown, which Adrianna willingly gives to save Amon's life. Ishmael betrays his part of the deal and shoots at Amon, and Adam, trying to save Amon, loses control and destroys the hideout with his power, killing Ishmael and wounding Amon. Guilt-ridden, Adam flees to the ruins of Ahk-Ton's palace, where he reveals to Hawkman that the legends of Kahndaq's champion were told incorrectly; it was Adam's son Hurut who was granted the powers of Shazam and became Kahndaq's champion. Knowing that Hurut was invincible, Ahk-Ton's assassins were instructed to execute Hurut's family, including Adam and Hurut's mother. Hurut gave Adam his powers to save his life, and Ahk-Ton's assassins immediately killed the de-powered Hurut. An enraged Adam slaughtered all of the king's men and inadvertently destroyed Kahndaq's palace. He was subsequently deemed unworthy by the Council of Wizards and in the resulting scuffle, Adam killed them all except Shazam, who imprisoned him along with the Crown of Sabbac within what would become Adam's tomb.

Feeling incapable of becoming a true hero, Adam surrenders. The Justice Society takes him to a secret Task Force X black site, where Fate has a premonition of Hawkman's impending death. As the Justice Society returns to the city, they realize Ishmael intentionally made Adam kill him while he was wearing the Crown of Sabbac, having shot at Amon so that he could be damned to Hell and reborn as the champion of the six demons of Sabbac, arising from the underworld to claim his throne and the power held within.

Sabbac summons the Legions of Hell to terrorize Kahndaq, but Amon, Adrianna, and Karim rally the people to repel them. The Justice Society prepares to face Sabbac in Ahk-Ton's ruins, but Fate creates a magical force field that prevents Hawkman, Cyclone, and Smasher from entering. He reveals that Hawkman's death can be avoided with his own sacrifice. Fate fights Sabbac alone and uses an astral projection to release Adam after talking to him in his cryo sleep. Sabbac then kills Fate, causing the force field to disappear, and allowing the others to fight. Just as Sabbac is about to kill the Justice Society, Adam arrives and engages him. With aid from Hawkman using Fate's helmet, Adam kills Sabbac. The Justice Society departs on good terms with Adam, who accepts his new role as the protector of Kahndaq and adopts a new name, Black Adam.

In a mid-credits scene, Waller communicates with Adam and warns him against leaving Kahndaq, before Superman arrives and suggests that they should talk.

The Verdict:

Don't worry, folks. I promise that this review won't be as lengthy as my recent one on She-Hulk's Disney+ series.

Much like the grander picture of the DC Extended Universe, I haven't had my hopes up at all for this film for the months that The Rock/Dwayne Johnson has been promoting it. I honestly thought it was going to be in trouble once word went out that he was giving away free tickets to see the film at San Diego Comic Con earlier this year. It felt like he was literally begging people to go out and see this thing. I reluctantly went out to see this. To be fair to this film, I told myself that I was going to shut my brain off and act like I haven't seen The Rock being typecast like he normally is in almost everything that he's cast it and give this film a fair chance.

To be honest, that strategy worked out for the best for my personal enjoyment of this film. This is a film that's best enjoyed if you sit back and enjoy the onscreen spectacle of the wonderfully well-done action scenes and visuals. If you take far too much time thinking about the logistics and finer details of the plot, that's where it falls apart in terms of a cohesive narrative. For example, why is Amanda Waller - a US government official no less - sending an American superhero team that is publicly well-known in there as if this is the Suicide Squad to deal with Black Adam? The Justice Society of America should have seen this mission as a red flag the moment it was ordered. As if we can't paint an even worse picture for American politics and military in media with them sending their team of superhumans to deal with international incidents that have absolutely nothing to do with their country of origin. Adrianna actually even points out their awkward involvement now of all times when they have allowed Intergang to run amok in their country for years uncontested.

This film also has a bigger issue with the mixed messages that it tries to convey but ultimately falls flat on executing properly. One would think that Black Adam is the villain here since this film, much like a lot of the films in the DCEU echo the notion that heroes don't kill, but after the first few opening minutes of this film, this film makes it painfully clear that Black Adam isn't a hero after how he slaughters numerous Intergang soldiers effortlessly. Then the JSA are brought in and echo the same philosophy, so you have this message being presented to your viewers that Black Adam is the bad guy since he's killing all of these people. It's made even worse by the tone that is inconsistent with this film too. The film starts off grim-dark and serious like most DCEU films, then shifts into comedy once the JSA are brought in and Black Adam starts hanging around Adrianna's son, Amon. Generally, I don't mind a light-hearted approach to this stuff at times, but pick one tone for your film and stick with it. Otherwise, it comes off as extremely lazy and half-assed writing. That goes for not just DC films, but ALL of these superhero films and television shows in this genre.

If we can be honest with ourselves, the Justice Society of America being in this film is simultaneously the best thing and the worst thing about it.

There's no argument about Pierce Brosnan's Dr. Fate stealing the show in every scene that he's in or how badass Hodge's Hawkman is in the last half of the film. Cyclone and Atom Smasher make do with what little they are given with to shine, but the underling problem of the matter is that this is NOT a JSA movie and it shouldn't be in the least. After announcement of the cancellation of Stargirl on The CW after its current third season wraps up, it makes me a little optimistic that we could see those characters reprised in a future film since the JSA was established and introduced in this film as part of the DCEU. From as hands on as Geoff Johns was with that television series, I think he would take great joy to see the character (Stargirl) who he based off of his deceased younger sister, Courtney, depicted in a feature film someday. I wouldn't even recast the JSA members that were used in that television show either. Say what you will about the decision to make the JSA a bunch of angst-filled teenagers for the sake of The CW show, but they made it work. The DCEU would be wise to adopt the similar approach to the JSA as the television show did, with the elder statesmen from the group stepping down or retiring to allow these younger, new heroes to step in their shoes as the heroes for the new generation. That way, they would have a mentor-student dynamic to play off of for their future film appearances.

The only thing I could figure in terms of greenlighting the decision of their involvement in this film is that The Rock realized that he could only do so much with scowling and frowning to carry this film on its own. Black Adam's entire backstory and most of his character development is told mostly through narration or a flashback. He is essentially the same character from start to finish outside of his decision to ultimately do some good by the film's end. The JSA being in this film ends up being a blessing and a curse as Black Adam oftentimes feels like a minor character in a film that is supposed to be about him. Unfortunately, that is the devil that you have to dance with when you want to introduce and involve as many DC character cameos in this film as possible while desperately trying to convince audiences that the DC Extended Universe isn't dead. Quite the contrary, the DC Extended Universe is dead in a sense. As of this posting (Nov. 2, 2022), James Gunn and Peter Safran have been selected to act as co-chair and co-CEO of DC Studios going forward. With this new regime at the driver's seat, things could turn out potentially for the better. This film was definitely a step in the right direction.

The film ultimately falls into the same trope, or rather "trap" that the Marvel Cinematic Universe films fall into, with the major antagonist being a mirror opposite of the protagonist with a similar power set. In this film's case, it ends up being that the leader of Intergang is transformed into the demonic Sabbac after obtaining the Crown. The only thing that saves this film from devolving into one of those cliched battles out of any token MCU final battle is the fact that the JSA were around to lend a helping hand. Sabbac ends up being too much for them to handle, with Fate sacrificing himself to free Adam for he can even the odds in their favor. Adam kills Sabbac and assumes the role as Kahndaq's new protector.

I should mention that I thought the revised details to Black Adam's origin was a nice touch. It was his son, Hurut, who was originally granted the powers of Shazam and was Kahndaq's champion of legend, not Teth-Adam. Hurut's enemies knew that he was invincible, so they targeted his family instead, namely his mother and father. Hurut passed his powers onto his fatally wounded father to save Teth-Adam's life, only to immediately killed once he was de-powered. Teth-Adam slaughtered all of those men and destroyed Kahndaq's palace in his rage, causing the Council of Wizards to instantly deem him unworthy of weilding their power. They were forced to imprison him with the Crown of Sabbac in where would be Adam's tomb that Adrianna stumbled across at the start of the film.

Pretty cool Easter egg to see that Jalon Christian, who plays a younger Dwayne Johnson in the Young Rock television series, portrays Black Adam's son, Hurut, here.

Isis and Black Adam fell in love.

The biggest appeal to this film for me was the fact that word got out that both Adrianna Tomaz and Amon Tomaz were cast to be part of this story. My favorite Black Adam story that I had the pleasure of reading was from the 52 (2006) novelization that I was gifted by a family member for Christmas one year that reintroduced both Isis (Adrianna Tomaz) and Osiris (Amon Tomaz) into that continuity. In that story, Black Adam gifts them both with power from the Rock of Eternity (with Captain Marvel's blessing), allowing them to become Isis and Osiris respectively. Much like in this film, Adrianna and Amon encourage Black Adam to be more of a benevolent figure unlike his tyrannical and villainous past. Black Adam and Isis fall in love and are wed among the rest of the Marvel/Shazam! family of characters. Of course, no one can be completely happy in the realm of comic books, so tragedy strikes as Amanda Waller plots against Black Adam and arranges for a new group of superhumans to target and destroy the Black Adam family. Both Osiris and Isis are killed as a result of Waller's attempts to damage their reputation(s) and force Black Adam to become more fueled by rage than ever before in his grief-stricken state.

I understood that plot was a little too heavy to do in a single film, plus we already saw something similar in terms of Billy Baston sharing his powers with the rest of the Baston family in the first Shazam! film, so I didn't get my hopes up for a direct adaptation of this story. What I was hoping for that this film would plant the seeds for that in a possible sequel. For the most part, they did enough to justify adapting this story down the road and that's all I ask really. Adrianna and her son not brother in this continuity, Amon, could make for fine heroes - with or without powers - down the road. This film went out of its way to establish this throughout the film, especially in the final act.

The biggest talking point or rather news to come out of this film was the bombshell of a reveal (if you didn't already see the post-credits scene leaked online the weekend prior) of Henry Cavill reprising the role of the Man of Steel himself, Superman, in a mid-credits teaser. Superman suggested that they talk and the scene fades to black.

This was a VERY wise decision to get him back on board for not just a cameo here, but for the good will of this cinematic universe going forward. Cavill had already expressed desires of coming back along with his desire to potentially portray Captain Britain for the MCU down the line. I know people are going to be upset that he's leaving that starring role as Geralt in The Witcher Netflix series to Liam Hemsworth, but look at it this way, at least we're FINALLY going to get Man of Steel 2 (or whatever the sequel will be called) with a new team in charge.

Superman and Black Adam meet face-to-face in a mid-credits teaser.

One thing I'm BEGGING DC and Warner Bros. to stop in these live-action depictions of these DC characters for future films with their new regime in charge is to STOP with the Jesus Christ comparisons in terms of both imagery and metaphors. I get it - most of these characters are literal gods and goddesses so you can't necessarily avoid those comparisons completely, but don't make it abundantly obvious. We have seen these Christ comparisons and symbolic imagery as recent as The Batman earlier this same year, so let's not try to lay the blame on that at Zack Snyder's feet too when he had absolutely nothing to do with that film.

I have a bigger problem with that in terms of cringe-worthy takes in modern superhero media (namely television shows and media) than the "forced" LGBTQ+ representation that a lot of people tend to point at and complain about. DC has a bigger problem with this borderline obsession with depicting their heroes in that manner, especially when it comes to Superman. That is such a tired and dated portrayal of Superman, especially in our modern day political landscape full of religious crackpots. We don't need to be encouraging the mindset of these invincible beings sent down from the Heavens to do the Lord's work in his image. What is so wrong with depicting these characters as normal people who were given divine power(s) and decided to do with them what they felt was right from their own upbringings and/or morals? They scratched the surface of that here in Black Adam but it doesn't go as deeply nor comes across as well-thought out as I would have liked.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Like I stated earlier in this review, Black Adam is a film that is best enjoyed when you turn your brain off and simply enjoy the visuals in terms of well put together action sequences that look like they were pulled straight from the pages of a comic book. Once you take the moment to process the finer details of the plot as a whole, that's where you realize the glue that holds this film together isn't as cohesive as one would hope. Let's not kid ourselves that this is a blueprint for success that DC Studios needs to continue for future films either. This is just simply one of the better things that they have done among a long line of below average to downright horrible releases that weren't along the lines of Aquaman, Shazam!, or The Suicide Squad. Those previously mentioned films weren't perfect either.

That being said, this film was a lot better than I was expecting going into it when I already had extremely low expectations to begin with and they managed to knock it out of the park with the representations of this continuity's version of the Justice Society of America, with Bosenan's Dr. Fate stealing the spotlight on numerous occasions from his co-stars. If DC Studios don't do more with that character in terms of a prequel film or something after his unanimous praise for his depiction in this film, then these people are stupider than I have given them credit for.

If you're looking for more from The Rock/Dwayne Johnson in terms of his acting ability (or lack of thereof) here, then you're not going to get anything more nor less than what we have all come to expect in his performances. That constant is one thing that doesn't bring down nor take away anything in this film though, so many skeptics can take solace in that too.

If Black Adam is representation of things of yet to come from the changes that are set to be brought about by the new regime in charge of DC Studios, then I'm all for it. It's about time that they get some W's in the win column in terms of the reception of their live-action films. Competition is a great thing - for DC AND for Marvel; even more so for the fans.

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